What a honor to be included in the Our State’s feature on Randolph Community College photography graduates in the January issue. It certainly has been a wild ride since I graduated in 2003. I can hardly believe it has been thirteen years! I have had so many wonderful experiences, worked with so many talented people and have shot everything from 5 star hotels to farms, famous authors and ordinary folks, TV stars and fascinating characters. I truly love my job and am thankful to Our State’s wonderful crew for giving me so many opportunities to see North Carolina through the eyes of it’s people, food and landscape.

We have so many RCC interns over the last decade and this semester we had the pleasure of having Caroline Boone. She photographed me for the opener to this story. To be truthful, it always feels sort of funny to be on the other side of the camera but Carol made it fun.

So fun to be behind the scenes shooting on the set of A Chef’s Life! Vivian and her crew welcomed us to shoot them filming the confessionals and the Pea Episode shot at the Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC.

A Chef’s Life is a fabulous award winning show on PBS created by Vivian and Cynthia Hill.

We love the authenticity and charm of Vivian and her guests. If you love food, you’ll enjoy this wonderful exploration of southern ingredients with a Vivian spin!

One of the things I love best about working for Our State Magazine is that I get to see and photograph some of the most beautiful places in North Carolina! I have always wanted to visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville but somehow in all my years of being a transplanted Canadian, I haven’t made the time to go to the Biltmore. When Art Director Deanne O’Connor called to ask me if I’d like to shoot a story there – I was so excited. Not only is the Biltmore fantastic but the marketing department was so wonderful to help me with getting the best shots. And the cherry on top was getting this month’s cover of Our State Magazine!

Stay tuned for more of my favorite shots from the Biltmore coming this week!